Appointment of the Rev. Andrew Orr as an Honorary Canon of St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork with Special Responsibility for a Focus on the Environment and Climate Change

The Bishop of Cork, the Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton is delighted to announce that he has appointed the Reverend Andrew Orr, Chaplain to Midleton College, and also Priest of Youghal Union of Parishes, to the additional position of Honorary Canon at St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork.

In that role as Honorary Canon, Canon Orr will have responsibility, under the new arrangements governing St Fin Barre’s Cathedral enacted by the General Synod in 2018, for the Fifth Mark of Mission of the Five Marks of Mission which encapsulate the common commitment of the Anglican Communion of Churches, namely:

To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth.

This will put environmental issues in general, and climate change in particular, to the fore of the thinking of the Diocese alongside the other four of The Five Marks of Mission.

The appointment is for a five year period, when the brief may be reviewed.

Bishop Paul Colton said:

Through these new posts of Honorary Canon, devised by the Dean, the Very Reverend Nigel Dunne, and the Cathedral Chapter, I, as Bishop, and the Diocese, have an opportunity to bring issues of the day to the fore in the minds and activities of the Church in this place. Clearly climate change and the environment are of immense concern to us all, and Canon Andrew Orr has a proven track record of engagement with these issues nationally.

The Very Reverend Nigel Dunne, Dean of Cork, said:

I am delighted to hear that Reverend Andrew Orr will be the first Honorary Canon to be appointed by the Bishop to the Chapter. This appointment is timely, not only because of the need for the Church’s engagement with the global climate change crisis but also because the Cathedral has begun engagement with new local public realm planning and its own tree management and wildflower planting programmes.

The new Canon, Canon Andrew Orr, responding to his appointment said:

I am delighted and honoured to be appointed as the first Honorary Canon of St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork. It is a sign that the Diocese is taking the fifth mark of mission very seriously and building on the good work already ongoing in many parishes. I would also like to pay tribute to my colleagues in Eco Congregation Ireland who have worked very hard over the last fifteen years to bring the environmental message to churches across the whole island.